One of the UFC’s greatest bantamweights of all time doubts he can make the weight again.
Following his thirteenth-straight victory over Sean O’Malley at UFC 316, many believe current champion Merab Dvalishvili to be the bantamweight ‘GOAT’.
Of course, Dvalishvili isn’t the only fighter in the conversation with names like Dominick Cruz, TJ Dillashaw and teammate Aljamain Sterling.
In Dvalishvili’s eyes, Sterling is the greatest bantamweight to ever do it with 15 wins and 3 successful title defenses in the weight class.
Sterling left the division in 2023 after he lost his title to O’Malley and he has rarely ever looked back.
Aljamain Sterling recently contemplated bantamweight move
Once the bantamweight champion but now a featherweight contender, Sterling says he considered a move back down to 135 lbs earlier this year.
“I did think about it,” Sterling said of a bantamweight return in an interview with Home of Fight.
“When I woke up in the morning, I was like 161.
“I was like, maybe I could make 135 again,” Sterling added.
“But then, my weight bounced back up to 168 lbs and I was like, yeah, that was a good thought for the moment, but it’s not happening…”
Sterling recently expressed interest in a rematch with O’Malley, claiming he was at 50% for their first fight at UFC 292.
Sterling is currently ranked #9 in the UFC featherweight rankings and is 1-1 in the weight class with a win over Calvin Kattar and a loss to the undefeated Movsar Evloev.
At 35 years old, Sterling is still in pursuit of a second UFC title at 145lbs.
Aljamain Sterling choked out the no. 1 contender in 90 seconds
‘Funkmaster’ had an incredible run in the UFC bantamweight division, one that saw him defeat four former champions, same as teammate Dvalishvili.
Sterling defeated the likes of Petr Yan, TJ Dillashaw, Henry Cejudo as well as perennial contender Cory Sandhagen, who looks to be Dvalishvili’s next title challenger.
Sandhagen suffered his first UFC loss at the hands of Sterling at UFC 250 in 2020. In the first 30 seconds of the fight, Sterling closed the distance and expertly grabbed ahold of Sandhagen’s back.
Less than a minute and a half into the fight, Sterling snatched up Sandhagen’s neck for a rear-naked choke in what was one of the best performances of his career.
The win landed Sterling in title contention against then champ Yan the following year.